Up to 5 people may be missing in Volgograd building debris

Up to five people may be missing in the debris of the collapsed apartment building in Volgograd, Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Leonid Belyayev has reported.

"Up to five people are missing in the debris," Belyayev told Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov during an intercom meeting on Dec. 21.

Eleven victims with injuries of various degrees have been found, he said.

Belyayev said the risk of a building collapse now remains at the accident site.

According to earlier reports, several household gas explosions caused the collapse of 38 apartments in an apartment building in the Dzerzhinsky district of Volgograd on Dec. 20. Four hours later, firefighters managed to contain the fire at the site. The body of one victim was found. The injured victims were hospitalized.